Tamyen
Encyclopedia
Ohlone
The Ohlone people, also known as the Costanoan, are a Native American people of the central California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the late 18th century, the Ohlone inhabited the area along the coast from San Francisco Bay through Monterey Bay to the lower Salinas Valley...
people groups of Native Americans who lived in Northern California
Northern California
Northern California is the northern portion of the U.S. state of California. The San Francisco Bay Area , and Sacramento as well as its metropolitan area are the main population centers...
. The Tamyen lived throughout the Santa Clara Valley
Santa Clara Valley
The Santa Clara Valley is a valley just south of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California in the United States. Much of Santa Clara County and its county seat, San José, are in the Santa Clara Valley. The valley was originally known as the Valley of Heart’s Delight for its high concentration...
. The use of the name Tamyen is on record as early as 1777, it comes from the Ohlone name for the location of the first Mission Santa Clara (Mission Santa Clara de Thamien) on the Guadalupe River
Guadalupe River (California)
The Guadalupe River is a short river in California whose headwater creeks originate in the Santa Cruz Mountains near the summit of Loma Prieta and Mount Umunhum. The river mainstem now begins on the Santa Clara Valley floor at the northern end of Lake Almaden, which is fed by Los Alamitos Creek and...
. Father Pena mentioned in a letter to Junipero Serra
Junípero Serra
Blessed Junípero Serra, O.F.M., , known as Fra Juníper Serra in Catalan, his mother tongue was a Majorcan Franciscan friar who founded the mission chain in Alta California of the Las Californias Province in New Spain—present day California, United States. Fr...
that the area around the mission was called Thamien by the native people. The missionary fathers erected the mission on January 17, 1777 at the native village of So-co-is-u-ka.
Tamyen (also called Santa Clara Costanoan) has been extended to mean the Santa Clara Valley
Santa Clara Valley
The Santa Clara Valley is a valley just south of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California in the United States. Much of Santa Clara County and its county seat, San José, are in the Santa Clara Valley. The valley was originally known as the Valley of Heart’s Delight for its high concentration...
Indians, as well as for the language they spoke. Tamyen is listed as one of the Costanoan language dialects in the Utian family
Utian languages
Utian is a family of indigenous languages spoken in the central and north portion of California, United States. The Miwok and Ohlone peoples both spoke languages in the Utian linguistic group...
. It was the primary language that Natives spoke at the first and second Mission Santa Clara
Mission Santa Clara de Asís
Mission Santa Clara de Asís was founded on January 12, 1777 and named for Santa Clara de Asis , the foundress of the order of the Poor Clares. Although ruined and rebuilt six times, the settlement was never abandoned.-History:...
(both founded in 1777). Linguistically, it is thought that Chochenyo
Chochenyo
The Chochenyo are one of the divisions of the indigenous Ohlone people of Northern California...
, Tamyen and Ramaytush
Ramaytush
The Ramaytush are one of the linguistic subdivisions of the Ohlone Native Americans of Northern California. Historically, the Ramaytush inhabited the San Francisco Peninsula between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in the area which is now San Francisco and San Mateo Counties.The Ramaytush...
were close dialects of a single language.
Tamyen territory extends over most of the present day Santa Clara County, California
Santa Clara County, California
Santa Clara County is a county located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 it had a population of 1,781,642. The county seat is San Jose. The highly urbanized Santa Clara Valley within Santa Clara County is also known as Silicon Valley...
, and was bordered by other Ohlone people: Ramaytush
Ramaytush
The Ramaytush are one of the linguistic subdivisions of the Ohlone Native Americans of Northern California. Historically, the Ramaytush inhabited the San Francisco Peninsula between San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean in the area which is now San Francisco and San Mateo Counties.The Ramaytush...
to the northwest on the San Francisco Peninsula, Chochenyo
Chochenyo
The Chochenyo are one of the divisions of the indigenous Ohlone people of Northern California...
to the northeast and east, Mutsun to the south, and the Awaswas
Awaswas
The Awaswas people are one of eight divisions of the Ohlone Native Americans of Northern California...
to the southwest.
During the era of Spanish missions in California
Spanish missions in California
The Spanish missions in California comprise a series of religious and military outposts established by Spanish Catholics of the Franciscan Order between 1769 and 1823 to spread the Christian faith among the local Native Americans. The missions represented the first major effort by Europeans to...
, the Tamyen's lives changed with the Mission Santa Clara, and later the Mission San José
Mission San José
Mission San José was founded on June 11, 1797 on a site located in the "Mission San Jose District" of Fremont, California in the "Valley of San José." The settlement was the site of the first Ceasarian section childbirth in Alta California...
of Fremont (founded in 1797) built in their region. Most moved into one of these missions and were baptized, lived and educated to be Catholic neophytes, also known as Mission Indians
Mission Indians
Mission Indians is a term for many Native California tribes, primarily living in coastal plains, adjacent inland valleys and mountains, and on the Channel Islands in central and southern California, United States. The tribes had established comparatively peaceful cultures varying from 250 to 8,000...
, until the mission was discontinued by the Mexican Government in 1834. A large majority of the Tamyen died from disease in the missions.
Today, the Tamyen have joined with the other San Francisco Bay Area Ohlone people under the name of the Muwekma Ohlone Tribe. The Muwekma Ohlone are currently petitioning for U.S. federal recognition.
Tamyen tribes and villages
The Tamyen (Tamien, Thamien) people are associated with the original site of Mission Santa Clara (Mission Santa Clara de Thamien) on the Guadalupe RiverGuadalupe River (California)
The Guadalupe River is a short river in California whose headwater creeks originate in the Santa Cruz Mountains near the summit of Loma Prieta and Mount Umunhum. The river mainstem now begins on the Santa Clara Valley floor at the northern end of Lake Almaden, which is fed by Los Alamitos Creek and...
, 1777. The entire Santa Clara Valley was populated with dozens of Tamien speaking villages, several on Coyote Creek
Coyote Creek
Coyote Creek is a river that flows through the Santa Clara Valley in California, United States.-History:Coyote Creek was originally named Arroyo del Coyote by Padre Pedro Font when the de Anza Expedition reached it on Sunday, March 31, 1776....
. See:
- Ohlone tribes and villages in Santa Clara Valley